THE ROLE OF THE MODERN FRENCH ECONOMY IN THE EU

The purpose of the article is to study the economic relations of France on the territory of the EU and its impact on the economic development of the union as a whole.

Capitalizing on Opportunities during the Covid-19 Pandemic

This article analyses business transitions among Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs in France during the Covid-19 pandemic. Drawing on a historical overview of the development of ethnic Chinese businesses over the last century and an empirical study carried out in five different industrial sectors (import and export, retail, catering, hotel, and tobacco) of the French economy, we examine what challenges these entrepreneurs have faced during the pandemic, what strategies they have adopted in response to these challenges, and what has enabled them to shift business patterns and commercial practices in this unprecedented situation. Our findings show that the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the transition of Chinese immigrant entrepreneurship in France, from offline operations to digital business. However, the pandemic may not be the direct cause of this business transition; rather, it has created unique conditions which facilitate the transition. Before the pandemic, some Chinese entrepreneurs had already made or partially made the transition to “integrating online and offline businesses,” “hiring beyond Chinese ethnic networks,” and “paying attention to the local country’s policy directions,” which helped them greatly reduce the negative impacts of the pandemic. During the pandemic, two unprecedented business opportunities were opened up: “fostering local production” and “seeking low-risk sectors,” which some Chinese entrepreneurs have proactively pursued since April/May 2020. These may be the new trends for Chinese entrepreneurs in France in the future. Theoretically, our study suggests that business transitions among Chinese entrepreneurs in France need to be examined beyond the framework of pure economic rationality, taking into consideration the intersection of new dynamics of Chinese migration into host country and the cross-cultural, cross-institutional, cross-thinking, and cross-border social engagement of the entrepreneurs themselves before, during, and after the pandemic.

L’histoire immobile? A reappraisal of French economic growth using the demand-side approach, 1280–1850

ABSTRACT We construct a new series of GDP per capita for France for the period 1280–1850 using the demand-side approach. Our estimates point to a long-run stability of the French economy with a very gradual acceleration toward modern economic growth. In comparative perspective, our new estimates suggest that England and France were characterized by similar levels of economic performance until the second half of the seventeenth century. It is only after that period that the English economy “forges ahead” in a consistent way.

The Exposure of French and South Korean Firm Stock Returns to Exchange Rates and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Rogoff predicted that the U.S. dollar will depreciate and that exchange rate volatility will return. The coronavirus crisis has also roiled the world economy. This paper investigates the exposure of French and Korean firm stock returns to exchange rate appreciations and the pandemic. Both France and Korea are major exporters, but Korea has managed the crisis better than France. The results indicate that Korean firms have come through the pandemic better than French firms. The findings also indicate that the Korean economy is less exposed to appreciations than the French economy. This paper concludes with suggestions to increase firms’ resilience to these shocks.

The Rise of Bpifrance

Founded in 2013 as a unification of dispersed elements of development banking activities in France, Bpifrance has been one of the most active proponents of the new techniques of development financing, such as venture capital and fund of funds investments. Bringing together these new techniques of direct equity investment with more traditional forms of loan and guarantee business, Bpifrance provides a one-stop shop model for the promotion of SMEs and start-ups in France, including the human capital formation of entrepreneurs. This, we argue, represents a reconfigured mode of dirigiste intervention in the French economy. Placing Bpifrance both in the context of the European field of development banking, as well as the historical context of state dirigisme post World War II, this chapter explores both the dangers and merits of such a new dirigiste model, which on the one hand through its synergy effects of different business line provides the state with an efficient tool to foster innovation and entrepreneurship, but at the same time is fragile, as it is potentially subject to overburdening political demands for intervention, demands which in the long run might threaten its financial viability.